Featured Opinion
Hamas’ defeat, helping Ukraine win, best for West
The sooner Israel defeats Hamas, the better. And also the sooner the US focuses attention on helping Ukraine win the war, the better.
Editorial
Why WA loves the critical minerals budget boost
Peter Dutton’s refusal to endorse Labor’s plan for production tax credits for critical minerals processing and green hydrogen won’t make him popular in must-win seats in Western Australia.
Columnist
How much fun should you have at work?
Jokes at work need to be deployed with skill and care. Yet, the best are glorious and the working world would be a far better place if we had a great deal more of them.
Columnist
The Coalition must give up its nuclear dreaming
The opposition’s current nuclear proposal is an unserious political wedge being used to pry open a climate war Pandora’s box. A new round of the climate wars would be catastrophic.
Trade unionist
Budget and reply add up to a bad week for Australian prosperity
Both major parties are failing to meaningfully engage with the centrist growth agenda of incentive-sharpening policy reform and mostly disciplined macro policy that provided the foundation for Australia’s three decades of prosperity.
Editorial
Penny Wong must speak up on New Caledonia
It’s time for Australia’s foreign minister to act as the honest friend and tell France that they are mishandling their Pacific territory.
Commentator
We need to prepare in good times for the next big shock. These are the good times
We are a long way from even a balanced budget. If we are going to have a fiscal war chest for the next big shock, we need to prepare now.
Economist
Punters are not convinced by Labor’s budget
The budget had two main political aims: to help further with the cost of living; and, in doing so, buy a pre-election interest rate cut. The punters are not convinced it will achieve either, polling finds.
Political editor
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Star bidders need to answer one big question
That the stricken Star would attract potential bidders is no surprise. But there’s one question buyers will struggle to answer.
- James Thomson
Star suitor Hard Rock knows a thing or two about the mass market
If a deal proceeds, there’s every chance casinos in Sydney and Queensland will look very different. Just look at their guitar-shaped Florida palace.
- Primrose Riordan and Zoe Samios
- Opinion
- Obituaries
The day I predicted the downfall of Tony O’Reilly
Regarded for much of his life as the most successful Irishman in modern history, the industrialist’s charm wasn’t enough to save his business empire.
- Aaron Patrick
- Opinion
- Iran
Raisi’s death deals blow to Iranian regime’s grand plan
Raisi was integral to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s plans to cement the influence of regime hardliners and ensure a smooth succession to the republic’s top post.
- Andrew England
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Two things can be true in Perpetual’s shock break-up
Perpetual is trying to get shareholders to look strictly at the numbers in a bid to take emotion out of its break-up. KKR’s $2.2 billion of cash can’t hurt.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Digital Life
Why the iPad Pro still hasn’t made itself useful enough
Apple’s latest tablet is undoubtedly one the greatest feats of computer hardware engineering ever. But what about its software?
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The $64b question at the heart of Mike Henry’s biggest test
Key BHP investors including AFIC are supportive of the mining giant lifting its bid for Anglo American. But the question is: how much?
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Start-ups
Why we should celebrate the unsung heroes of the Aussie tech scene
Successful start-up exits deliver rich returns to investors and create wealth for founders and some employees, and hopefully recycle talent back into the sector.
- Leigh Jasper
- Opinion
- Pathology
This routine health test is an investment opportunity
The share prices of pathology companies are below pre-pandemic levels and the world will need more blood tests.
- Mark Draper
This Month
- Opinion
- Inside China
Two massive things happened while we were watching the budget
Two big overseas developments will be much more crucial in determining our economic prosperity than last week’s budget. The first is Beijing finally taking steps to address the bursting of the country’s property bubble.
- Karen Maley
- Analysis
- Start-ups
Growing pains: Tougher times put VC on a collision course with media
From rumblings of a boycott to senior technology investors complaining, Australia’s start-up and media industries aren’t as close as they used to be.
- Nick Bonyhady
Coalition chose political interest over easing the housing crisis
Readers’ letters on Peter Dutton’s focus on housing; how big super funds should prepare for tax changes; how the law can use AI; and a plea to keep printed copies of “The Australian Financial Review” alive in WA.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why a rubbish collector is the ASX’s most vulnerable big company
Cleanaway Waste Management needs investors to buy into its growth story, and soon, because while earnings forecasts are rising, the share price isn’t. That makes it vulnerable to a takeover.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Immigration
Dutton’s migrant crackdown treats economy with disdain
In the populist pitch to bring down house prices, there is little recognition of the role of migrants in filling acute skills shortages across the economy.
- Jessica Gardner
- Opinion
- Mental health
Gentrified mental health has undermined access for the seriously ill
The high costs and limitations of access are unquestionably privileging the privileged.
- Updated
- Tanveer Ahmed
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Keeping Eraring open is about engineering not morality
The imminent decision around when to close Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station is a watershed moment between an ideological approach to climate change and the laws of physics.
- Matthew Warren
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Made in Australia is just copying US and China protectionism
Anthony Albanese has replicated the economic strategies of Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. The small mercy so far is no increased tariffs on imports.
- Alexander Downer
- Opinion
- East Asia Forum
The US-China trade war has helped polarise ASEAN
Regardless of their alignment or dependence on one side or the other, South-East Asian states need to stay focused on their common regional interests.
- Joseph C. Liow
- Opinion
- Productivity
Fear and crisis fatigue are holding back productivity
Our uncertain world is generating collective caution. This leaves economies experiencing too little change and bearing too little risk.
- Andy Haldane
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
These stocks are primed for ‘tectonic-sized’ tailwinds
The magnificent seven are not the only way to play artificial intelligence, there’s money to be made in storage, energy and software on the ASX too.
- Jun Bei Liu
